Wilandra Farms: fostering award-winning methods of sustainability and biodiversity

Luke Droppert (L), Sandra Jefford and Wilco Droppert, Wilandra Farms (photo credit: Anthony Webster)

Continuing our series of articles that recognise leading agribusinesses in our region, we profile family-run dairy enterprise Wilandra Farms, who claimed the Sustainability category at this year’s Gippsland Food and Fibre Awards.

Sandra Jefford and Wilco Droppert own and operate a dairy farm at Clydebank, near Sale.

Milking around 380-390 cows year-round, Sandra and Wilco, along with their son Luke and daughter Sophie, are passionate about sustainable farming.

With their small but skilled team of staff, they a have a strong commitment to producing healthy, nutritious food while enhancing the environment.

Among the improvements Sandra and Wilco have made to their farm is the harnessing of renewable energy, achieved through the installation of 249kW of solar panels and 20kW of wind turbines.

This infrastructure primarily provides power for irrigation across the farm, while innovative processes have also enabled solar energy to be used in the dairy.

Through on-farm experimentation and trial, solar has proved to be the energy source with the most valuable return on investment.

Certified organic since 2020, Wilandra Farms operates on a philosophy of regenerative methods of farming to improve the quality of available natural resources, particularly the soil.

“We’re aiming to get more life on the farm, and that starts with the soil,” Sandra said.

“We want more microbes, more insects in the soil, more earthworms, more diversity of plants, more wildlife, and these improvements are enabling us to carry more cattle and employ more people.”

Sandra describes herself as a ‘plant person’ with a particular interest in legumes and planting multispecies pastures for animal health.

Wilandra Farms’ livestock graze on perennial pastures that include a range of clovers and lucerne, mixed grasses, chicory, and plantain, whilst other plants such as dandelion and mallow are also valued.

“We’re aiming to produce a large quantity of nutrient-dense, nutritious plants for our cattle,” Sandra said.

This interest has led Sandra and Wilco to speak with Dr Hafiz Suleria from The University of Melbourne, whose research has studied the phytochemicals in pasture plants.

“Dr Suleria has compared lucerne with clovers, with rye grass, fescue, chicory and plantain; he’s looked at which plants have the greatest diversity of these beneficial compounds, and the levels they contain,” Sandra said.

“And it’s fascinating, because fescue only has one of these compounds and that’s a plant our cattle don’t like to eat; whereas, our cattle absolutely love the clover and the chicory, which are really rich in those naturally occurring chemicals.”

Sandra and Wilco’s approach to sustainable farming has seen a strong emphasis on planting trees, primarily for providing their cattle with shade and shelter, but with the additional purpose of supporting biodiversity on the farm.

After some early attempts at tree planting with no weed control, followed by an extended period of drought, Sandra and Wilco later sought the advice of a forestry consultant who has since guided them to considerably better results.

Last year alone, Sandra, Wilco and the team planted around 11,000 native trees; of those, 9,000 are agroforestry plantings using a mix of species that include spotted gum, yellow stringybark, red ironbark, sugar gum, coast grey box, and a sheoak.

While the agroforestry trees have enabled a diversification opportunity on the farm that has the scope to harvest sawlogs, Sandra describes the benefits of these plantings as much broader in terms of environmental outcomes and drought mitigation measures.

“We’re sequestering carbon; we are slowing down the wind so we have less moisture evaporation from the pastures; we are providing habitat for wildlife; and we know there are a lot more insects in these areas than there are in the paddocks,” Sandra said.

“Plus, we can hopefully have a positive impact on the small water cycle and local rainfall if enough people in our district plant more trees.”

Sandra and Wilco’s interest in polyculture has led them to apply for, and achieve, Bee Friendly Farming certification.

It’s an accreditation they are actively encouraging other farmers to consider.

“We love seeing the bees around,” said Sandra.

“We know that they’re pollinating the plants in our pastures, such as the clovers and lucerne; and if we can get those plants pollinated and have them self-regenerate, that saves us having to resow.”

Aligning with the organic standard, sustainable farming methods utilised at Wilandra Farms include making compost from the calf shed bedding, in addition to using dairy manure and waste hay or silage from the farm.

“We’re allowed to buy things like trace elements or sulphate of potash, if the soil tests suggest these treatments are needed,” Sandra said.

“Organic farming systems mean that we’re not using any synthetic fertilisers, so the sorts of corrective additions we use are lime and gypsum, because our soil is relatively low in calcium and high in magnesium.”

Wilco and Sandra are well known in the region for their generosity of spirit and opening their farm to field days.

They have a strong willingness to impart what they have learned, as they strive to show that dairy farm businesses can be productive, profitable, and have positive effects on the environment.

Their approach to collaboration and sharing is matched only by their enthusiasm to gain knowledge from others.

Sandra and Wilco believe that the process of exploration and adventure, of trial and error, is the most valuable way to learn.

Their ethos is summed up perfectly by Wilco:

“If you’re not having failures, you’re not trying hard enough.”

With the recognition achieved by Wilandra Farms at this year’s Gippsland Food and Fibre Awards, it’s evident there are plenty of successes, too.

Reference:
Jefford, S. (2024, November 24). Bee Friendly Farming for livestock [webinar]. Wheen Bee Foundation.

Images:
Beehives, dairy cattle, tree plantings and insect photo: Sandra Jefford, Wilandra Farms; carousel photos, image of Sandra Jefford, and irrigation dam: Barb Radley, Food & Fibre Gippsland; top photo: Anthony Webster